Folding furniture



June 17, 1930. B. L. LAURSEN FOLDING FURNITURE Filed Nov. 23, 1926 3Sheets-Sheet l Svwemtoz U, C W xwwm June 17, 1930. R N 1,765,168

FOLDING FURNITURE Filed Nov. 23. 1926 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented June 17,1930 UNITED STATES PATENT: OFFICE.

OF FORM-EIGHT PER CENT TO CLEARWATER LUMBER COMPANY, INCORPORATED,

OI OLEABWATER, FLORIDA, A COBPOBATIOK'OF FLORIDA FOLDING- FURNITUREApplication filed November 23, 1928. Serial No. 150,181.

This invention pertains to folding furniture, particularly seats andtables.

It is an object of the 1nvent1on to disclose an arrangement of tables,seats, or'

other units which permits using them either together or separately.

Another object is to produce an arrangement of table and seats of suchdesign that they may be enclosed in a cabinet whlch, 1n turn, may beattached to a wall or lnstalled in a wall or partition, even in apartitlon less than four inches thick.

Another object is to provide furmture which will be automatically lockedin operative position.

Another object is to so arrange the supports of the units that they maymoved from operative to nonoperative pos1t1on or vice versa, by a singlecontinuous motion without the necessity for breaking ]01IltS oradjusting fastening devices.

Another object is to so design the apparatus that the various componentparts will be automatic in action.

Another object is to so balance the parts and-control their operationthat the devices will'require slight efl'ort either to open or close.

Another object is to so design the device that the panels of thecabinets will automatically remain closed without use of fastenings.

Another object is to so design the device as to provide an automaticretarding effect to prevent slamming when bringing the parts tooperative positlon.

Another object is to provide a design which presents a smooth,attractive appearance when the cabinet is closed.

I Further and other objects and advantages will be hereinafter set forthin the aocom panying specification and claims and shown in the drawings,which by Way of illustration show what is now considered to be thepreferred embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 1 is a front view, with table and one seat 1n operative position,and with one seat folded up into the cabinet, a portion of the foldedseat being broken away to show its supporting structure in foldedposition.

Fig. 2 is a cross-section on line 2-2 of Fig. 1, showing, in addition,by broken-lines, the seat partly folde F ig. 3 is a side view of a seatin operawith the cabinet in section.

Fig. 4 is a cross-section on line 44 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a cross-section on line 5-5 of Fig. 1, showing the table inoperative posi-.

tlon.

Fig. 6 shows the table in fully folded and partly folded position.

Althou h our invention is suitable for a variety 0 furniture units, wehave chosen to illustrate and describe it as applied to a table with aseat on each side. Such an arrangement is commonly termed a breakfastnook.

The arrangement herein shown comprises a table 10 and a seat 12 on eachside of the table. The table and seats are associated with a wallcabinet 14 in such relationship that when the units are not wanted foruse they may be folded into suitable compartments. The cabinet comprisesa back board 16 and a number of uprights 18 so spaced as to not onlyprovide proper support for the units in all positions, but also tocooperate with them while in folded position in order to form anattractive cabinet, with the furniture tops 10 and 12 forming the frontpanels thereof. The cabinet may be attached to a wall or partition suchas 20 (Fig. 4) or may be incorporated in the wall itself. In Fig. 4 itwill be seen that the front. edges of the intermediate uprights 18, thetable top 10 and seats 12 form a practically continuous plane surface toform the front of the cabinet. A ca 22 is placed on top of the cabinetand a ase plate 24 is provided along the bottom.

The table comprises a top 10, at the rear end of which is attached around cross bar 26, the ends of which project as trunnions mto grooves28 in the sides of uprights 18. Each groove 28 is shaped with a shorthorizontal section at substantially the level of the table top while inoperative position, and a long vertical section extending to the top ofupright 18. The vertical section 9f the groove is inclined slightlytoward the front of the cabinet as shown in Fig. 5.

The cap 22 is ooved at the underside of its forward portion, Figures 2,3, 5 and 6, to receive tlga upper and rear ends of the l units 10 and12.

it is only necessary to (press the top toward the rear and downwar y.This first moves the trunnions in the vertical groove, and then forcesthem upwardly in grooves 28 until the table assumes the position shownby the full lines in Fig. 6. An intermediate position is indicated bythe broken lines. It will be noticed that in folded position the weightof the table is supported by strut 30 and that hinge 34 is furthertoward the rear of the cabinet than hinge 32. It is, in

fact, far enough to the rear so that the center of gravity of thestructure is behind hinge 32, which means that the table automaticallytends to hold itself in folded position and no fastening device of anykind is required.

The construction and operation of seat 12 is similar in every way to thetable already described, except that the seat is provided with anadditional support 40 to help carry the heavier load which the seat willbe called upon to bear (Fig. 3). Support 40 is hinged at its'upper endto seat 12 and is interconnected by brace 42 to strut member 44. Thelower end of brace 42 is pivoted to strut 40 by pin 46, and the upperend of 42 is pivoted to'44 by hinge 48.

The operation of folding the seat is exactl the same as that alreadydescribed for 0 ding the table. The folding operation is shown in itscompleted stage, and at one intermediate stage, in Fig. 2. As in thecase of the table, the seat automatically holds itself in foldedposition without the aid of fastening devices.

The inter-relationship of the supporting members of both seat and tableis such that they all fold compactly into the space between thefurniture top, and the back 18 of the cabinet.

To lace either the seat or the table in operative positionthe abovedescribed folding)operat1on is sim 1y reversed.

uring the unfol ing operation, as soon as the center of gravity of thestructure has passed to the front of the hinge supports the tendency isfor the structure to fall outwardly and downwardly to assume itsoperative position. This means that the trunnions on the ends of rod26.are bearing against the front sides of grooves 28.

the grooves are sloped towards the rear,v

from the top downwardly, the important result is secured that apronounced retarding effect is produced, thereby preventing thestructure from, slamming downwardly, thus permitting the operator toeasily lower the table or seat gently into 0 erative position.

It is to be understood t at the invention is not limited to theconstruction herein specifically illustrated but can be embodied inother-forms without departure from its spirit.

I claim 1.' In a device of the class described, in combination with aunit having a horizontal operative position and a vertical inoperativeposition, a stationary upright member, having spaced uprights andgrooves-at opposed sides thereof, each groove with a short horizontalsection at substantially the level of said unit vwhen in operativeposition and I also with a long section extending upwardly from the rearend of the short section and inclined toward the front of the uprightmember, means on said unit to engage said grooves of said upright memberwhereby said member may guide and retard the move ment of said unitwhile said unit is being moved from inoperative to operative position,

2. The invention defined in claim 1, in which a strut is interposedbetween and hingedly connected to the unit and the lower portion of theupright member and having its lower hinge connection forward of itshinge connection to the unit in folded position, whereby the strutsupports the unit in folded position and the unit tends to hold itselfin folded osition.

3. The invention defined in claim 1 in which a support is hinged at itsupper end to the unit at a distance correspondlng to its length from theouter end of said unit and is connected by a brace pivoted to saidsupport and hinged to a strut from the upright, said support, strut andbrace folding into a compact bundle back of the unit when said unit isin a vertical inoperative position.

In testimony whereof I hereto aifix my slgnature.

BRUNO LAURIS LAURSEN.

